Mr Sivaprasa also raised his hand in a Nazi salute for the media. His appearance did not trigger any protests from fellow parliamentarians.

He said he wanted to send a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to follow Hitler. He complained that Mr Modi had gone back on a promise to provide extra funds for his Andhra Pradesh state.

“He does not get the pulse of what people want and I want to urge him to not be like him (Hitler),” he said.

Mr Modi’s government denies the charge.

Naramalli Sivaprasa says he is urging Narendra Modi not to act like the Nazi leader (AP Photo)

In protest, Mr Sivaprasa’s powerful regional group, The Telugu Desam Party, broke alliance with Mr Modi’s government in March. It also unsuccessfully tried to bring down the government through a no-confidence motion last month in Parliament.

Mr Sivaprasa is used to dressing up differently, like a farmer, a cattle herder, a Muslim cleric and a woman to press different issues.

Hitler remains a figure of fascination in India, where the Holocaust is not well known, and is widely seen more as a strong leader than a genocidal dictator.

His book, Mein Kampf, can be found in many bookstores, and bootleg copies are regularly sold in the streets of New Delhi and other large cities.